Immigrant workers
from the Woodfin Suites hotel and their supporters rally outside the hotel
to demand that the owner pay $250,000 in back wages owed housekeepers
for failure to comply with Emeryville's living wage ordinance, Measure
C. Hotel managers fired 20 workers, accusing them of lacking legal permission
to work, and alleging that they don't have valid Social Security numbers.
Workers say the hotel iretaliated against them for trying to enforce the
living wage ordinance. Emeryville's city council supported the workers,
and ordered the owner to pay. Instead, Samuel Hardage, Woodfin's owner,
asked his Congressman, Brian Bilbray, to pressure the Department of Homeland
Security to investigate the workers' immigration status. Pictured: Sarah
Norr, organizer for East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, who helped
the workers get organized.